Food Truck Roundup (Part Trois)

Food trucks (all street food really) have been the bread and butter of this blog since Day 1. I love everything about them and it has been way too long since I have made a food truck post. So without further adieu, here are a few of the food trucks that I have recently added to my rotation:

We will start off with a KC food truck veteran, that I just recently had the pleasure of trying: The Magical Meatball Tour. The Magical Meatball Tour (MMT) is a purveyor of fine meatballs, the most famous of which (and also most comically named) is the bleu ball. This made it an obvious choice for me, as I do love a delicious dish with a dirty name. The bleu ball slider was tremendous! The bleu balls come covered in a very spicy buffalo sauce, served on a bed of slaw and bleu cheese crumbles. The meat was tender and the slaw was terrific. The slaw was much more than a filler, it was a great compliment to the spice of the buffalo sauce. More bleu balls are definitely in my future (along with other ball varieties too). 

The Magical Meatball Tour is really an all around amazing food truck, it even comes complete with a Ringmaster (See photo to right). You can also find a MMT recipe in the upcoming edition of Food Trucks for Dummies, which is slated to hit bookstore shelves in April 2013 (I know what I am asking for for my next birthday). Stop by after you pick up your copy to get it autographed, but don't wait until then to see what all the buzz is about. My only regret was that I did not try this truck sooner.

Next up is Smokin' Fresh Streetside BBQ. Smokin' Fresh Streetside BBQ (SFSB) is Kansas City's only all-natural, organic-only BBQ food truck. SFSB also has the juiciest dry-rubbed, smoked meat I have ever had in my life. I do not know if the juiciness of the meat comes from it being organically raised meat, or the process by which it is cooked, and (speaking as a hungry truck goer) it really doesn't matter. All I know is that it is delicious regardless of where the juice comes from.

The brisket sandwich and burnt ends are both equally incredible. The burnt ends are done cube style (Jack Stack), not shredded style (Gates), which just works to hold the juices in until you bite into them. The brisket sandwich comes piled high with brisket, topped with a wonderful BBQ sauce.

Not only are Doug and Paula great barbecuers and food truck owners, but also great Kansas Citians and food truck supporters. On the weekends that they are not out with their truck, you will probably find them eating at another local food truck. Two of the nicest people that you will ever meet!

Crave of KC Food Truck is a newcomer to the local food truck scene. I have had two different varieties of the fusion tacos (and before anyone reminds me how much of a taco purist I am,  the rules of authentic Mexican tacos do not apply to fusion tacos, now back to the post), they are truly awesome!

The Chicken Fusion Tacos are great. I would have to say that my favorite part of them is the homemade peanut sauce (nut allergies beware). The chicken was also perfectly cooked. The Carnitas Tacos had incredibly tender carnitas and a great salsa verde (we all know I love a good salsa verde). The tacos pictured to the right are in the order in which they are described, from left to right.

Joe and Chris (and Matt too) are also great food truck owners and super nice people. They normally stick to the lunch circuit, but you occasionally catch them in the evenings. Although, I do have to catch up with them for breakfast sometime, as they have an Amaretto French Toast that I just have to try. I feel like it may even give my Wheatfield's sour dough French Toast a run for its money.

Driftwood KC was a new truck when I first tried them (this summer), but by the time my lazy butt has gotten around to writing about them, most of you have probably already tried the smoky goodness that is Driftwood KC. Driftwood is owned and operated by a classicly trained chef that just got sick and tired of working for The Man. I cannot say enough about this truck, I have dined at some good food trucks in my day, but Driftwood is easily in my top 5 (if not top 3)! I am lucky enough to work just a few blocks from this truck, thus I have had almost everything on the menu.

The brisket sandwich is awesome, the brisket is tender and the bed of slaw that sits inside the bun with it is incredible! Like MMT (above), this slaw is not just a complimentary component of an entree, it is good enough to stand on its own. The slaw is what I would call a very rugged cut slaw, which I love, and the flavour profile of the slaw morphs as it sits on your palate (you get the sweet, then the savory, then the tangy, then a tad bit of kick at the end, just wonderful). The complex flavour profile of the slaw comes from the garlic-chipotle aioli that holds the cabbage and onions together. Plus, don't even get me started on the molasses based BBQ sauce (I am a sucker for a good molasses based sauce)! You will need a knife and fork for this sandwich, do not plan to eat it like a sandwich.

My favorite item on the menu is the ribs. These are quite possibly the meatiest ribs I have ever had in my life, I would swear that they came off of either a brontosaurus or Hogzilla, yet they are not tough and chewy at all (as most meatier ribs are). Also, if you are not as huge of a sauce fan as I am, I put the globs of sauce on myself, it did not come through the window like that.

The fries are also great, they are fried when you order them and then tossed in a BBQ rub. Whether you like them with the bacon and bleu cheese aioli or the molasses BBQ sauce, you cannot go wrong.

My only complaint is that they are not open more days of the week, or for lunch and dinner, but this is probably better for my waist line in the long run.

And finally, a Food Truck Roundup post would not be complete without an update on the ever changing menu of Indios Carbonsitos, who along with MMT will have a recipe in the forthcoming edition of Food Trucks for Dummies. The Akcel sandwich is killer, and I am pretty sure it is my wife's new favorite menu item. You can order it tame (recommended for those with stomachs prone to ulcers) or on fire (which would clear even the toughest sinus congestion). The cheese on the Akcel is an awesome compliment to the carne in the tame version and offers a very small amount of relief from Adrian's "Diablo" sauce on the fire version of the sandwich. At the end of the day, you really cannot go wrong either way, unless of course you have a sensitive stomach (in which case you should probably go tame).

Happy Trucking!

Tour de BBQ

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of taking part in the Tour de BBQ with a buddy of mine. Tour de BBQ is a 62 mile bicycle ride, benefiting the University of Kansas & Children's Mercy Cancer Centers. I love riding my bicycle, I love eating BBQ, and I really hate cancer (I mean really, really hate cancer, I don't think you fully understand the hate I have toward cancer), so this ride seemed like a natural event to take part in. It was extremely cold at the start of the race and didn't warm up much as the day went on, but it was a fantastic ride anyway!

The ride:

A 62 mile ride, 6 BBQ stops, 8 hours to complete (although we did not need nearly that long).

It was 39 degrees when I walked out my door and got on my bike to ride down to the Power and Light District (where the ride began) at 6:40. All I could think about when I was zooming down the hill, and the wind was so cold that it was making my eyes water, was "I wonder how much convincing it would take to talk Dan (my buddy) into just coming over and hanging out instead of riding today", but our hatred for cancer prevailed. 

The ride began a tad late (at about 7:15 AM, which does not change this post at all, but wanted to make not of it so no one judged us for riding the first few miles super slowly).

The stops:

The Stack (Mile 10; 7:40 AM): The Stack, formerly Smokestack BBQ (started by the same family as Jack Stack), provided BBQ chicken wings. The Stack is now under new ownership that has completely overhauled the entire menu from the restaurant's Smokestack days. I have yet to visit this restaurant, but I can tell you that their chicken wings are awesome! I am not a huge BBQ chicken wing guy, if I am going to be having wings, I prefer them buffalo style, but the stack is working on changing that. The rub, combined with the small bit of caramelized sauce on the outside of the wing, were perfect. The wing was juicy and if I return to The Stack anytime soon, it will be hard for me to order anything but the BBQ wings.

Gates (Mile 15; 8:00 AM): I do not know what Gates provided for the ride, as they either forgot that they were providing BBQ for the ride, or we just rode too fast and got there before the BBQ was ready. Lots of "Hi, may I help you?!" jokes were made and Gates received no red star from Tour de BBQ (these jokes will only makes sense to those who frequent Gates, if you don't get them, go to Gates and you will understand).

 
Jack Stack (Mile 23.4; 8:34 AM): It is a well known fact that I think that Jack Stack has the best beans EVER (not just in KC), I would swim in a pool full of Jack Stack beans if I could, but today the Jack Stack sausage was the star of the show. The sausage was great, as always, it is no secret that Jack Stack has great BBQ. If you have not been to Jack Stack, join the 21st century and go give it a try.

The Burnt End (Mile 33.25; 9:20 AM): I had not tried The Burnt End before Saturday, whom ironically did not supply their namesake burnt ends, but instead provided shredded chicken sliders. Their shredded chicken was very tender, pickles were very good, and the sauce was a tomato based sauce (not dissimilar to Jack Stack's). I would definitely recommend adding The Burnt End to any SOJOCOer's BBQ rotation.

 Dickey's BBQ Pit (Mile 42.5; 10:00 AM): I did not partake in the BBQ at Dickey's solely on principle. I do not know if Dickey's is any good or not, I have never had it. However, on a tour of KC BBQ places, I was not going to include a TX chain in my day. Sorry, to anyone who loves Dickey's, my inner KC BBQ elitist keeps me from trying it.

R.J.'s Bob-be-que Shack (Mile 55; 11:00 AM): Yet another stop on the route that I had not tried before, R.J.'s was surprisingly awesome! The pork sliders were great, crunchy ends on the tender strands of tender pork combined with a tangy sauce (my favorite sauce of any of the stops) was a perfect combination. I will definitely be returning to R.J.'s with my wife SOON! Also of mention: everyone at every stop was as nice as could be, but the people at R.J.'s were in a league of their own (it is unknown if they were R.J.'s employees or Tour de BBQ volunteers, but just wanted to make not of it).

The Afterparty (Mile 62; 11:45 AM): 

Upon return to the Power and Light District, we were treated to a band and given drink & meal tickets, as if we needed more BBQ at that point (although I did not need it, I still partook anyways). The band was singing a mix of past hits and original songs about running and triathlons, it was a good fit for the crowd in attendance.

The Ride Home:

After getting cold from being sedentary while eating my final BBQ, having a couple beers, and watching the band, my muscles had time to get stiff from lactic acid settling in. Combine this with a full belly and an uphill ride home; the ride of less than a mile from the Power and Light District to my condo was much harder than the previous 62 miles I had ridden that day.

Final Thoughts:

All of the BBQ that I had was great! The roads were not closed for the ride, but the route was reasonably marked. It was extremely cold, but we had a good ride anyways. I would recommend taking part in this ride next year to anyone who loves riding bikes, eating BBQ, or hates cancer. They even have 15 mile and 35 mile rides for anyone who is not quite as intense as my buddy Dan and I are.